Archive of Fishing reports

August2017

Fall Is Right Around The Corner

Posted: August 30, 2017

The fishing on Devils Lake the past few weeks has been good. A lot of people have been having success catching a good number of Walleyes. This time of the year you will find a lot of smaller Walleyes that you will have to sort through to find your keepers. Bottom bouncers are still the preferred method to catching these eater size walleyes! Ounce and a half bottom bouncers in 20-25 feet of water still seems to be working well. Crawlers and Gulp! are still working great, slow-death presentations are also producing walleyes now. Focus on main lake structure again and also rip-rap areas along the miles of road that surround the lake.

The jigging bite is starting to pick up as we transition into fall fishing. Some of the best fishing on Devils Lake is just right around the corner. As the water starts to cool down and fall air temps show up, the walleyes go on a feeding craze and put a feed bag on. Some of the most ideal times to catch a big healthy walleye on Devils Lake is September-October so it’s not too late to make a trip up here yet for the season. Also duck season opens up the end of September and Devils Lake provides a unique opportunity for a Blast & Cast (duck hunting in the morning & walleye fishing in the afternoon). To us that is a true slice of paradise being able to do both a duck hunt and walleye outing in the same day.

August is Here and the Walleyes are Active

Posted: August 9, 2017

This past week on Devils Lake has been another good one! Many people have been finding a good number of walleyes. We have had stable weather with very little wind which has made for some great fishing.

The trolling bite in 15-25 feet of water is still working very well. Bottom bouncers and spinners are working great to find these fish in that depth. Try using a 1.5oz or 2oz bottom bouncer with a spinner attached to that. As far as colors go it can vary by day, but red & white, gold and silver are always a go to on Devils Lake. Tip the spinner with either a night crawler or some type of Berkley Gulp! The key to trolling is to stay in that 1-1.5mph range and when you get a bite, mark that spot and turn right back over it. A quick tip to try is when tying your own spinners, is to use 20 pound Fluorocarbon line which helps with break offs with the infamous snags on Devils Lake and also putting a quick swap clevis on so you can change your blade color very quickly.

Deep water structure is starting to produce fish now as well. These fish can be a little tougher to get to but there are 3 main tactics that are used to target deep water structure fish. #1: Pulling Lead core-using lead core with crankbaits on is a great wait to cover deep water when trying to find active fish. #2: Rip-Jigging: Using Rapala Jigging Raps and Johnson Johnny Darter’s are good ways to target fish holding in the deep water near structure. #3: Slip Bobbers: Slips bobbers can be another great way to catch fish on a sunken rock pile in deep water. The only downfall to jigging and slip bobbering these areas in the middle of the lake is that you need a fairly calm day to stay on top of the spot where pulling lead core you can cover it more effectively on a windy day.

The most recent creel survey from the ND Game & Fish just came out and can be found here.

As far as particular locations to fish right now, focus on structure: any sunken structure like rock piles, road ditches, rip-rap, areas where you see a “hump” or sharp change in the bottom. Most of the lake holds fish at this time of the year, it’s just a matter of getting them to bite!